


Promises Kept

by angelus2hot



Category: Andromeda (TV)
Genre: Angst, Community: smallfandomfest, Dream Sequence, M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-06
Updated: 2012-01-06
Packaged: 2017-10-29 02:29:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/314841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelus2hot/pseuds/angelus2hot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tyr finally keeps his promise to Harper.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Promises Kept

**Author's Note:**

> **Title:** Promises Kept  
>  **Fandom:** Andromeda  
>  **Rating:** PG-13  
>  **Word Count:** 1,233  
>  **Characters/Pairing:** Tyr/Harper  
>  **Summary:** Tyr finally keeps his promise to Harper.  
>  **A/N:** written for [Smallfandomfest](http://smallfandomfest.livejournal.com/profile) Fest10

Tyr watched silently as Harper thrashed on the bed. He was positive the engineer was in far too much pain to even realize he was in the room but still the Nietzschean stood close, his body alert to the slightest change in the man in front of him.

“Tyr?”

Without bothering to turn he began to speak. “Years ago I made him a promise that I wouldn’t let Magog larvae hatch inside of him. And I was willing to keep that promise. Hell sometimes, when he had gotten on my very last nerve, I was more than willing to kill him even after he was cured. But now..” The Nietzschean leaned down and brushed Harper’s damp hair away from his forehead before he continued. “But now I can’t begin to think what my life would be like without him in it. Kill him? How could I when I would rather cut off my right arm than to let him suffer? And yet he is lying in that bed suffering a multitude of pain because I can’t bear to keep a promise.”

“It’s not your fault, Tyr. No one could have guessed, especially not after all this time, that a rogue Magog would find his way to Harper. Everyone believed once the Magog home world was destroyed that was the end of it. Damn it!” Dylan ran his hand through his hair. “No one has even seen a Magog in ten years. And then suddenly out of the blue Harper’s infected. Again! I...”

Whatever he had been about to say was ended as a strange sound erupted from Harper. Part scream, part moan escaped him before his eyes opened wide. “Tyr?” His voice was barely above a whisper as he spoke.

“I’m here.”

“Tyr, I just want you to know that I...”

Tyr’s dreadlocks whipped around his shoulders as he quickly shook his head. “No! I will not listen to your defeatist attitude.”

A painful grin pulled at the corners of Harper’s mouth. “You call it pessimistic. I call it realistic. You have to face the facts. I’m dying, Tyr. This time there won’t be a cure in the nick of time.”

“You don’t know that.” Tyr whispered softly as he leaned down closer.

“I have seen the outcome and it is bleak.” Even knocking on death’s door, Harper did a great impersonation of Trance. It was just too bad Tyr was unable to appreciate it at the moment.

Neither of them noticed as the captain quietly left the room.

“I won’t listen to this.” Tyr turned as if to leave but it was just a pretense. A horde of hungry Magog couldn’t have dragged him from Harper’s bedside.

With shaking hands, Harper reached out to grab Tyr’s arm. “Don’t go, Tyr.”

He placed his hand above Harper’s as he quickly turned back around. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know this is hard for you. But I need your help. I only ask one thing of you. Remember your promise to me. Even though it was a long time ago. Please remember it. If you love me...”

Tyr quickly interrupted. “Do not ask this of me.” His eyes were wild with fear and anguish. He couldn’t do it. He wouldn’t.

“Please, Tyr. It’s not just about me anymore. There are more than a dozen Magog inside of me fighting to get out. And it’s only a matter of time before they succeed. You can’t let them loose on the ship. Not on Andromeda. You just can’t. Think about Dylan, Trance, Beka...”

Once more Tyr interrupted. “I don’t care about anyone but you! Don’t you understand that? None of them. They could all go to hell as far as I’m concerned. I only care about you.” The last words were whispered softly as he laid his head against Harper’s forehead.

“Tyr.”

“Please do not ask this of me.” He repeated his words from earlier.

Harper shrugged his shoulder for a moment forgetting the pain it would cause him. “You’re all I’ve got.”

“And you are all I have. How could you ask this of me?”

“How could you not do this for me? Please, Tyr. I don’t want to die like this. Screaming in agony just to bring a bunch of filthy Magog onto the Andromeda.”

Every enhanced genetic cell in his body screamed at him. He didn’t want to do this. He couldn’t do this but he had no choice. After all he had made Harper a promise and he hadn’t put a time limit on it. With tears in his eyes, Tyr stood up straight and stared down at Harper. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

As Tyr’s hand came closer to his mouth, Harper began to speak. “There’s just one thing.”

Tyr quickly snatched his hand away. He hoped Harper had thought of a better way, a way to save himself. “What?”

“I just wanted you to know, I love you and I don’t regret any moment of our time together.”

“As I will always love you.”

Within moments Harper lay still on the bed, his body was no longer wracked with pain. He was finally at peace.

 _Harper is dead._ The disembodied voice of Andromeda’s AI told him what he already knew.

 

 

“Noooo!” His terrified screams echoed through the room.

“What is it, Tyr? Come on, big guy. Wake up! It’s only a dream.”

Tyr’s body jerked as his back was softly caressed. _A dream?_ How could all of that have been a dream? Tyr stared down at his hand, the very hand he had used to smother the man he loved. It had felt so real. He had felt Harper’s life slip through his hands.

“Tyr?”

Tyr took a deep breath hoping against hope that what he was about to see was real. That Harper was still alive and safe in his bed where he belonged. Slowly, Tyr turned to face Harper. Before he could stop himself his hands came up to caress Harper’s face. “You are alive.”

“Good catch there. And they say Nietzschean’s aren’t smart.” Tyr looked so shocked to find him there that Harper couldn’t resist teasing him.

Without warning, Tyr pulled Harper closer to him and urged Harper down until his head lay on his chest.

Not that he minded of course but Harper was curious as to what had brought on this unusual display of affection. “Do you want to tell me about it?”

Tyr shook his head. He never wanted to think about it again much less speak of it. “No, I do not.”

“Come on, Tyr. It might help to talk about it.”

He had forgotten Harper’s tendency to not let things go even if it would be in his best interest to do so. Tyr hugged Harper tighter to him as he began to speak. “I kept my promise to you.”

“That’s it?”

At the look on Tyr’s face, Harper thought back to what the promise could have been. Finally it dawned on him. There had only been one time he had ever asked Tyr to promise him anything that could have cause the Nietzschean that much pain. He had made him promise to kill him.

 _Ah, so that was it._ Without another word, Harper wrapped his arms around Tyr. “Tyr?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for keeping your promise.” He placed a soft kiss on Tyr’s chest before he snuggled in closer and fell asleep.


End file.
